A recovering maximalist's attempted journey to minimalism though often distracted by a love of shoes.
Here's my take on life, love, people and everything in between.

Saturday, May 10, 2014

Living Within Your Means

This is a
really simple saying that is just filled with common sense – but somehow, most
people can’t seem to abide by it. By most people, I’m including myself.

Before I
begin, I’m not in any kind of debt at all, but that’s because I have been lucky
enough to have been supported by my parents and not taken any loans. My current
commitment that I have is my monthly rent, and maybe a little bit of insurance,
but that’s about it.

See, I used
to think if I earned more money, I would be set. I would maintain the same
lifestyle I’d always had, and put all the excess money in a savings account.

In theory,
it works, in practice, it really doesn’t. A lot of people have also told me
that when your salary increases, so does your lifestyle. I didn’t believe them.

Silly me.

I’ve
discovered it really is true, your
lifestyle increases when your salary does. It’s a very gradual process too, one
that you don’t realize is happening. At first, it’s a rush you get, that you
can finally afford certain things you used to want, but could never afford. You
get used to owning nicer stuff. You start going for nicer dinners, more often.
Going to a fancy place isn’t a reserved only for special nights out like
birthdays or celebrations, but now it’s just a weekend sort of activity.

I’m going
to be cutting down on my lifestyle, and I came to this realization when I came
back to my hometown this weekend.

I’m from a
small town in Malaysia called Taiping – famous for being the wettest spot in
Malaysia (cue the downpours), the Zoo and the Lake Gardens. It’s a quiet,
sleepy little town, also known as the Pensioner’s Paradise (you can imagine why
most of the youngsters scuttle off to Kuala Lumpur as soon as they can).

For some
reason, this trip home was a little bit of a culture shock. Maybe it’s the
stark contrast of Singapore and Taiping – one is a bustling, busy, organized
city with amaaaazing Internet speed, and the other is a really simple, quiet
place with amazingly slow Internet. I think it could have been the change in
route, normally when I come home from Singapore, I make a stopover in Kuala
Lumpur, then only to Taiping so it’s a bit more of a gradual transition, but
this time, I didn’t, because I found an airport nearer my hometown. (Yes, I only
found it last month.)

What’s
great about Taiping is that a lot of it has remained unchanged. It’s developing
slowly, but the main heart of the town is the same. I remember going to school
as a kid, looking outside the window of my father’s car, and as I sat in the
car again, I looked at all those same buildings, and it’s a little bit of a
strange feeling, knowing that you’ve changed so much, but when you come home,
things are the same.

The nicest
hotel in Taiping is called Flemington. I wanted to take my mother for a buffet
dinner, so I googled it to get its phone number, and I was a bit amused to find
that it was called a ‘budget hotel’ in TripAdvisor. There are no fancy hotels
in Taiping. No Shangrila, no JW Mariott. People here move at a slower pace. The
air is cleaner, the vibe of things are much slower and calmer. It’s a typical
small town, with the typical charm that comes along with it.

Coming
home, and doing the things I loved the best – eating at my favourite food
stalls, hanging out with my dog, sleeping, made me realize I really don’t need
any of the fancy things in life. I guess none of us do, but we get very caught
up in it, especially when we’re in an environment that thrives on material
goods.

Fancy
dinners are so unnecessary. As clichéd as this sounds, money buys a lot of
things but it really doesn’t buy affection. Case in point – my mom has this
neighbor and today we were summoned over. She’s a really pretty Indian lady,
and she has two sons, around the ages of maybe 10 and 14. I don’t know, I’m bad
with ages, and boys all tend to be very short before hitting puberty so they
can really be of any age! She takes care of two Chinese kids, one aged about 3
and one about 6.

We went
over, and she had baked a cake for my mom for Mother’s Day. It was really
sweet, and all the kids gathered around to watch, giggling as they watched my
mother’s reaction. It was quite cute too, they sang ‘Happy Mother’s Day’ in the
tune of ‘Happy Birthday’.

That made
me realize a couple of things.

It’s not
about the money. It’s not about getting an expensive, extravagant, rich looking
cake.

Maybe I’ve
forgotten a little bit about this in life, but it’s really about family, at the
end of the day. It’s about being surrounded by your loved ones, and being rich
in relationships and matters of the heart. It’s not about my new Furla handbag.
It’s not about wearing Jimmy Choo shoes.

It’s nice
to come home, and remember my roots. To be honest, sometimes I forget my
origins, but when I come home, I am so strongly reminded that I really am at
heart a small town girl, and I’m proud to be one. I’m proud of my upbringing,
of the house I grew up in, of the people who are so nice and caring in my town,
and of everything that has made me who I am.

I think I’m
living the life of a typical, corporate climber in her twenties. I live in a
studio apartment in a nice condo that has a gym, a Jacuzzi and three swimming
pools. I blow a huge chunk of my salary on my rent. I blow another chunk of it
on dinners, drinks and birthdays. I go for holidays, and treat myself to
massages. I recently bought a new shoe cupboard because I have just too many
damn shoes.

It’s time
to stop, and re-evaluate things. I think I could save a lot more money if I
didn’t spend so much on unnecessary dinners and clothes and shoes. It’s time to
invest more on people, and relationships, rather than on materials.

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Me

Hello :) I'm 27, Malaysian, and currently residing in sunny Singapore! I love makeup and shoes because they make me feel pretty. I've discovered minimalism in July 2013, and am trying to find my way onto a simpler, happier, more fulfilling life.

Why You Should Declutter

When there's too much clutter, you lose sight of what's important.

Physical clutter translates into mental clutter.

After decluttering, I felt a lot lighter and re-energized. I let go of a lot of stuff that had sentimental attachment but no use. I got rid of clothes, books, shoes, and lots of junk.

Here are some benefits to decluttering :

1. You know where everything is. How many times have you went out and bought something new because you've lost the old one?

2. There's a lot more space in your cupboard. I used to have a war with hangers every time I tried stuffing in new clothes.

3. Other people can make use of your stuff. Don't throw them away, donate them to charity homes. You're doing a good deed at the same time!

4. It's easier to tidy things now, it takes less time when you have less things.

5. You're more in control of your surroundings. When you're more organised, you keep track of things better and you're more aware of your surroundings.

There are plenty of other benefits when it comes to decluttering, these are just the top few that are at the top of my head.